Russian Helicopters at Africa Aerospace and Defence 2014 exhibition

PRETORIA – The International Africa Aerospace and Defence 2014 exhibition opened Wednesday in South Africa, and Russian Helicopters is presenting a line-up of military and civilian flying machines.

Nearly 800 helicopters manufactured by Russian companies are currently in use across the African continent, Russian Helicopters (an affiliate of the arms manufacturer Oboronprom, which is part of the Rostec corporation) CEO Alexander Mikheev said in a statement released Wednesday.

“Our positions on the South African helicopter market, and in Africa as a whole, have traditionally been strong, and we view this as one of the most important regions for us. The total fleet of Russian-made helicopters on the continent exceeds 770 units,” the company’s chief said in the statement.

Mikheev added that in South Africa, the Mil Mi-8/17 “Hip” and the Kamov Ka-27 “Helix” vehicles are operated from the Denel Aviation service facility, serving specifically Mil Mi-8/17 civilian helicopters. He also expressed hope that the fleet of helicopters will continue to grow.

The company’s experts with their colleagues from Russia’s state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport will introduce the Mil Mi-171Sh and the Mil-17-B5 military transport helicopters, the Mil-35M “Hind E” multipurpose military transport helicopter and the Ansat-U light training helicopter.